1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to an apparatus for separating gold and silver particles from heavy concentrate or black sand.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
There is no prior art which shows the use of inclined conveyors using smooth or lightly textured belts to carry very fine ore concentrates (i.e., heavy concentrates or black sand) upwardly and which are washed by water streams directed onto the conveyor, thus washing back and separating the lighter and/or round particles of materials in the black sand from the heavier and flat-like particles of gold and silver contained in the black sand. Because of their flatness and density, the particles of gold and silver adhere to the conveyor belt while other more round or light materials wash down and off the belt.
Unlike the present invention, the prior art designs only purport to separate rough mill-run ore into heavy or black sand components through the use of traps on their conveyor belts. The heavy or black sand components of the material used with this invention will contain such elements as zircon, hematite, magnetite, monazite, etc., in addition to gold and silver. This invention takes the end product of the prior art devices and through its especially designed water medium and smooth belt, separates that product down to pure gold and silver, washing away the other materials contained in the heavier components or black sand.
Also, unlike the present invention, the prior art devices do not disclose: a compact gold and silver separator unit having a motor for rotating an endless conveyor belt upwardly against a source of water or fluid under pressure which washes the ore deposited on the conveyor; a funnel for directing materials to be separated onto the conveyor belt; and a pump for pumping water or fluid from a reservoir. Representative of prior art devices are those listed below:
______________________________________ Patentee Pat. No. Issue Date ______________________________________ H. P. Holland 416,704 Dec. 3, 1889 G. L. Cudner 473,449 Apr. 26, 1892 G. W. Thornburgh 680,678 Aug. 13, 1901 E. S. Curtis 2,103,663 Jan. 7, 1935 R. Hackney et al 2,325,562 Feb. 20, 1956 N. H. A. Rodman 2,930,484 March 29, 1960 MacElvain et al 3,976,567 Aug. 24, 1976 ______________________________________